One in ten of the British population was born overseas

One in ten people living in Britain today was born overseas, figures reveal.

They show how Labour's opendoor immigration policy has changed the country's make-up dramatically.

Since the party came to power in 1997, the number of those born overseas who live here has rocketed by 1,690,000 - up 42 per cent.

The total now stands at 5,699,000, or 10 per cent of the population. During last year alone, the increase was 405,000.

The figures - which run to the end of 2005 - are larger than any previous estimate, but may still hugely understate the true situation.

They do not include up to 570,000 illegal immigrants who have entered the country undetected by the authorities.

Nor do they take into account an estimated 100,000 Eastern Europeans who have flocked here this year.

Last year's increase of 405,000 was largely due to the influx of hundreds of thousands of workers from the former Eastern Bloc, granted free movement since the expansion of the EU on May 1, 2004.

Next year, they will be joined by up to 150,000 Romanians and Bulgarians - boosting the overseas-born population still further.

The data was produced by the Office for National Statistics for MPs investigating the Government's stance on immigration.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the think-tank Migrationwatch UK, said the current level of migration was 'contrary to the interests of all sections of our community - adding to the problems of both overcrowding and integration'.

He warned that a knock-on effect would be the need for more houses, schools, hospitals, roads and railways.

There was also little evidence that the huge number of immigrants boosts the economy, the Government's argument's for not controlling numbers.

'Immigration satisfies demand but creates other demand,' Sir Andrew said in evidence to the MPs.

'By bringing in substantial numbers of people who will work for less you are lowering wages and making it more difunearthedficult to get people from welfare to work, which is an important government policy.'

Calls for immigration debate

The compilation of the figures, for the Home Affairs Select Committee, will add fuel to demands for Labour to hold a proper debate on immigration.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said it was typical that the figures had been by MPs, rather than published by the Home Office.

Former Labour minister Frank Field warned recently that the Government will ignore the issue at its peril.

He said Britain was suffering from the unprecedented influx of migrant workers and that MPs were living on borrowed time on the issue.

Anyone who questioned mass immigration was accused of 'playing the race card', said Mr Field, a former welfare reform minister. But this was just 'another way of closing down debate'.

He said politicians must address the problem before the far-Right BNP exploits voters' concerns.

Before 1997, net migration to Britain was running at around 40,000 a year. It exploded afterwards, as the Government handed out hundreds of thousands of visas for both economic and political reasons.

The average level of net migration increased to around 130,000 a year.

Following EU expansion two years ago, numbers rose further.

Net migration - the number arriving set against those leaving - is now around 225,000.

The total number of Eastern Europeans in Britain is at least 400,000, including 230,000 Poles. Some experts say the true total is 600,000, with around 300,000 Poles.

The Government predicted that 13,000 workers a year would move to the UK from the countries which joined the EU in 2004.

Other categories of foreign nationals included in the data are failed asylum seekers. They number up to 450,000, most of whom have arrived since 1997.

Some 11,000 of the 5,699,000 foreigners are in jail for crimes committed in the UK.